Virus Warning Also............

The FBI has sent you – YOU – an email claiming it has been monitoring your Internet use and you have accessed a number of so-called illegal sites.

It wants you to open an attachment and answer a list of questions.

Do NOT open this attachment because it contains variants of the W32/sober virus.

Once your computer is infected, the virus may:

Attempt to harvest email addresses from a configurable list of file extensions
Utilize its own SMTP engine to send itself to the harvested email addresses
Other common characteristics of W32/sober virus variants include:

Modify the system registry to prevent Windows XP's built-in firewall from starting
Modify the HOSTS file to prevent the computer from accessing certain security and commercial web sites
Attempt to terminate a number of running processes, some of which are security related
Open a backdoor on the system that allows the attacker to communicate remotely with the system via IRC. This may allow the attacker to upload and execute arbitrary code on the infected machine.
To date, the phoney FBI emails have been sent with email addresses of [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]. There may be similar-styled addresses.

Beware of Charities Too.

Any organisation or club collecting money or goods from the public for charitable purposes, needs to be licensed under the Charitable Collections Act. There is no fee required for a license, however each of the Principal Executive Officers must provide a NATIONAL POLICE CLEARANCE.

To register, you need to contact the Charitable Collections Advisory Committee. Forms relating to licensing are available here.

This Committee consists of five independent members appointed by the Governor. Once the Committee receives an application for registration, the Committee makes recommendations to the Minister for Consumer and Employment Protection in regard to the licensing of an organisation.

E-bay one is funny...usually goes along the lines of..."saw your item for a sale and have cash waiting is it still avail?"
Your an ***** for not realising you haven't put up any items for sale (worst still not remembering what they were if you had) so you click the link to the e-bay account.....BANG they are all over your computer and account!

Had one from paypal and that was the scare tactic...."Your account has been frozen due to suspicious activity.Click on the link..." BANG done again!

DO NOT OPEN ANY LINKS VIA AN E-MAIL FROM ANY MONEY BASED SITES.

If there is a problem they may well e-mail you BUT AND IT IS A BIG BUT! they will ask you to log on via your usual link and will not give you a quick link via the e-mail.

Dear addhesive (and anyone else having this problem):
If the e-mail is really from eBay or paypal, it will begin with your name. If it says "dear customer" or whatever besides your name, do not click on any links! Instead forward it immediately to: [email protected]. I have copied and pasted the following information from the eBay website with the hope of preventing anyone else from the misery of identiy theft:

Reporting Spoof (Fake) Emails
Spoof emails are deceptive emails claiming to be sent by well-known companies. They are called "spoof emails" (also known as "hoax" or "phisher" emails) because they fake the appearance of a popular Web site or company in an attempt to commit identity theft. The people who send these emails hope that unsuspecting recipients will reply or click a link contained in the email and then provide sensitive personal information (for example, eBay passwords, social security numbers, or credit card numbers).

To help eBay protect your eBay account and your identity:

Learn to recognize characteristics of spoof email.
Know what to do when you receive suspicious email.
Report suspicious email to eBay.
Protect yourself from spoof emails and possible eBay account takeover and identity theft.
An email message from eBay:

Never asks you to provide financial account numbers, passwords, or other sensitive information through email. If eBay requests information from you, a copy of that email will be in the My Messages box in My eBay. For more information, see Using My Messages.
Does not require you to enter information on a page that cannot be accessed from the eBay site. When possible, you should avoid clicking links. Instead of clicking the link, you should copy the address and paste it into the Address/Location area of your Web browser. While eBay may send email that contains links, the links are provided for convenience only. You will not be required to submit sensitive information if a direct link is provided to an eBay page.
Will not include attachments. If you receive a message that appears to have been sent from eBay that includes an attachment, do not open it.
May be a misdirected "Forgot your password" message. These messages are sent when a member enters a User ID using the "Forgot your password" feature. After the User ID is entered, a notice is sent to the email address registered to that account. If you received this email unexpectedly, it is probably because someone else mistyped his or her own User ID when attempting to use this feature.
Typical characteristics of spoof email

The following characteristics are warning signs that the email you received may not be legitimate.

Uses eBay terms, department names and often includes the eBay logo to resemble common eBay email.
Has a generic greeting like “Attention eBay Member.”
Often includes a forged eBay address in the "From" line of the email. For example, "From: [email protected]", "From: [email protected]", "From: eBay Account Maintenance." Just because the sender line includes “ebay.com”, does not guarantee that the email is from eBay.
Contains threats of account suspension or urges quick action. Subjects can include problems with your account, Ask the Seller a Question, or offers to become an eBay PowerSeller.
Includes a request to provide personal information, to verify your password, or to confirm account information.
Contains links to Web pages that look exactly like eBay sign-in pages.
What to do when you receive suspicious email

Do not send sensitive personal information using email.
eBay will never ask you to send your account password or other sensitive personal information, such as credit card numbers, in an email.
Never click on a link in an email if you are unsure of its origins, especially if the email asks for personal financial information. The purpose of spoof email is to lead you to a Web site and attempt to collect personal information and commit identity theft or other crimes.
When in doubt, go directly to the eBay Web site. Open a new browser window, type eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices, sign-in, and use the "site map" link to navigate the site. For more information, see Recognizing Fake eBay Websites. Make sure you sign out when you are finished, especially if you are using a public computer.
Report the email by forwarding the email to [email protected]
Monitor your account for suspicious activities. Your account may have been compromised. eBay also monitors suspicious account activity and will contact you about changing your password.
Important: If you have already replied to a fraudulent email with sensitive personal information or entered data through a fake Web page, you need to take immediate steps to protect your eBay account (see Securing Your eBay Account and Reporting Account Theft) and your identity (see Protecting Your Identity).

Reporting spoof email

If you have any doubt whether an email is from eBay, help eBay keep our community safe by reporting it immediately.

To report suspicious email:
Use your email program to forward the message to [email protected].
Important: In order for eBay investigate your report, you must forward the email without adding attachments, adding text or altering text.

Once you have forwarded the email, you can delete it from your email account.